Surflight Theatre Will ReOpen In Summer 2017

After two summers without “Broadway at the Beach”, Surflight Theatre in Beach Haven, New Jersey is slated to reopen this summer after shuttering in early 2015.

Following two dark summers, Surflight Theatre is slated to light the lights once again in Summer 2017. It has been announced New Jersey native Al Parinello has officially purchased the property and is planning a full summer season back on stage including musical theatre favorites and premieres. Former artistic director, Steve Steiner, is slated to return to the venue again as artistic director. Mr. Parinello purchased the property in early February although an official number in regards to the properties price was not released. He is a Broadway producer and producer of the long-running hit, TheFantasticks, Off-Broadway. In addition to a full summer season on stage, a children’s theatre program, series of concerts and the iconic ShowPlace Ice Cream Parlour are all slated to return in Summer 2017 as well.

Surflight Theatre was founded in 1950 by Joseph P. Hayes as a place “to serve as a training ground for young artists in a supportive summer stock environment and to provide quality entertainment to the residents and vacationers of Long Beach Island.” While the original Surflight presented theatre in a tent able to hold 2,200 audience members, the current theatre seats around 450 (Pictured Left) in a building that was constructed in the late 1980’s. The theatre expanded to include the ShowPlace Ice Cream Parlour in 1975. In 2010, Surflight first filed for bankruptcy and in 2013, the theatre sustained close to $1 million dollars in damages from Hurricane Sandy. In 2015, Surflight officially closed after failing to regain capital needed to produce a season and continue it’s operations.

LUNER LOWDOWN: The return of Surflight Theatre to New Jersey’s beach this summer is a surprise, delight and puzzle to many. While many in town are thrilled a resident theatre will once again not only provide top-notch entertainment to locals but the thousands who vacation there each summer, many are cautiously optimistic after a near decade of uncertainty with Surflight. The season is a fantastic line up filled with musical theatre favorites, such as Joseph and Hairspray, audiences are sure to love but also some new productions, such as Newsies and Million Dollar Quartet, that will easily win over the families who call LBI home during the summer. I must admit the season, overall, is ambitious for the returning venue given its financial pass but one can only hope this time around, the show will indeed go on no matter what. I look forward to including Surflight on our site and covering their productions as they are mounted this season.

Many thanks to Sara Caruso for providing the featured photo at the top of the article.

To be a part of the 2017 Surflight Theatre season, contact the Surflight Box Office at (609)-492-9477 beginning tomorrow for subscriptions or group information. Single tickets for the season go on sale April 1st and the box office will open in person, located at 201 Engleside Avenue in Beach Haven, April 14th.

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